THE EDITOR, Sir:

IT IS THAT time of year when parents and booksellers experience the worse nightmare. As someone familiar with the trade and with management in the education sector, I have observed that many of our schools need to be more efficient and considerate to all persons who make textbooks and supplies available to the general public.

Book lists are printed and given to parents. In nearly all cases every child in a grade gets the same book list. Is this appropriate? Teachers do not consult their booksellers to find out if there are new editions, or if books are still in print. Booksellers must ask or collect copies of book lists from which books are sourced and ordered. Many texts are carelessly written, texts are changed every year at great loss to booksellers. Parents complain that some books were never used for the year.

The saddest cases that I have dealt with are the parents who travel across Jamaica trying to find one book that is on rental. Why? The student's copy was lost or stolen. Unless the parent can replace the lost text, that student cannot get the rented books for the new year. In one case the school withheld a student's exam results until the rented book was bought and handed in. Most booksellers do not stock the books on rental and some schools have refused to accept payment for the lost text.

Schools need to re-examine their book lists each year, and only after they know that texts will be available should they distribute these to parents. There are many schools that deserve a failing grade for their preparation of book lists. Readers are prepared in series with a graded vocabulary. When a school picks out one reader from one series it is a signal that something is wrong. These are the schools that change their texts every year as they seek for solutions to their reading problems.

Many early childhood teachers need guidance from their supervisors on what they write on their book lists. Basic schools should not be distributing book lists until about the middle of the first term after a period of orientation.

While we commend parents for doing the best in trying to purchase every item on the list, they have a responsibility to ensure that every page in the workbook is used by the child. A monthly check should be made of the textbooks that are kept at school. Some termly texts can be bought by the term, there is no need to buy every book before school begins in September.

I am, etc.

EUGENA ROBINSON

r_eugena@yahoo.com

Port Maria